As is known, the supporting of cables or pipes is usually performed with the aid of a plurality of support collars which can be rapidly fixed onto corresponding support structures normally consisting of special plates with holes.
The aforementioned support collars generally have relatively elastic structures which are formed by means of respective open profiles. According to these configurations, the support collars may be splayed elastically so that they can be rapidly fitted onto the pipes or tubes to be supported.
The document U.S. Pat. No. 6,161,804 describes and illustrates a support collar which has a sheet-like structure provided with a curved portion intended to engage with the cable or pipe to be supported. Two plate-like portions terminating in respective engaging elements extend laterally from the curved portion.
The plate-like portions and the curved portion delimit a respective area for housing the cable or pipe to be supported, which is suitably fixed in a stable position by two or more retaining lugs which extend from the said plate-like portions
The engaging elements are designed to be inserted inside a respective hole formed through the support plate of a respective support structure. Once the engaging elements have been inserted inside the respective hole, the engaging elements remain locked in this position by respective contact surfaces which engage with the support plate on the opposite side to the curved portion. The disengagement of the collar from the support plate requires firstly the movement of the engaging elements towards each other and then extraction thereof through the respective hole in the support plate.
According to a further example described and illustrated in the document U.S. Pat. No. 6,354,543, the support collar has a flat top end portion which has a hole in the centre. The central hole allows engagement and fastening of another support collar in positions on top of each other, while the flat surface of the top end portion provides a stable resting surface for the mounted support collar.
In this case also, engagement of one support collar on another one is able to be performed by means of insertion of respective engaging elements which hook onto the corresponding top end portion through the central hole, while disengagement is performed by moving the engaging elements towards each other until they can be extracted through the central hole of the respective top end portion.
Also known are collars which are formed in the manner of a clip and can be deformed elastically so as to fix cables or pipes to respective support structures.
In particular, these collars comprise a substantially flat engaging portion which is screwed directly to the support structure and fixed onto the latter by means of at least one locking screw. Two side portions extend from the flat portion and delimit a narrow intermediate space suitable for receiving the cable or pipe to be supported. The side portions can be splayed elastically so as to allow the introduction of the cable or pipe inside the intermediate space. Retention of the cable or pipe to be supported is performed by the side portions of the support collar which press transversely the respective article to be supported.
Despite the fact that the aforementioned support collars are able to support long articles, such a cables, pipes and/or the like, the Applicant has found that, however, they are not without a number of drawbacks and that various aspects may be improved, mainly in connection with the stability of the articles supported, the flexibility of use of the support collars with respect to the different cross-sections and/or cross-sectional forms of the cables or pipes to be supported, the elasticity of the side walls and, consequently, the adaptability thereof to cables or pipes with large cross-sections, the practicality of application of the support collars on cables or pipes, the simplicity of installation thereof, the positioning thereof along the cables or pipes to be supported, the amount of material required for manufacture thereof, as well as the costs for manufacture and/or marketing thereof.
In particular, as regards the support collars which can be engaged on the support plates or other collars by means of corresponding engaging elements, the Applicant has found that the plate-like side portions of the latter are excessively rigid. The rigidity of the plate-like side portions is due to their configuration in the form of a hump or with curved sections, necessary for housing cables or pipes with a circular cross-section.
In addition, the plate-like side portions are provided with respective structural folds which define the undulating profile thereof, rigidifying significantly the structure.
The excessive structural rigidity limits substantially the capacity of the known collars to adapt to the different forms and dimensions of the cables or pipes to be supported. Therefore, each support collar may be applied only on cables or pipes which have transverse dimensions corresponding to the transverse dimensions of the housing area intended for them.
It must also be mentioned that the manufacture of a structure provided with a series of curved portions requires, on the one hand, the implementation of complex method and, on the other hand, the use of a significant quantity of material which increases substantially both the overall production costs and the costs for marketing of these support collars.
With reference instead to the collars formed in the manner of a clip these have the drawback that they have an open side through which accidental extraction of the mounted cable or pipe may occur. In greater detail, since it has an open form, the clip is unable to retain the mounted cable or pipe in the event of accidental separation from the side portions of the collar. In other words, when the mounted cable accidentally disengages from the side portions of the collar, it separates completely from it, with dangerous consequences.